NIFK15004U Political Ecology

Environmental problems such as land degradation and
deforestation are complex processes and often cannot be understood
in isolation from broader processes of economic and social
development, struggles over access and rights to resources, or
conflicts originating from historical grievances. Yet, their
complexity is not always acknowledged by researchers, governments,
and development interventions seeking to identify, measure, and
correct or alleviate them. Scientific measurements of the extent of
environmental degradation are often inaccurate and/or highly
uncertain, and knowledge of the underlying drivers is framed in
ways that put direct blame on some actors, for instance farmers
practicing subsistence farming, while leaving others out, such
as large-scale investments in mining.

Political Ecology asserts that the way we know environmental
problems affects the solutions we identify, which implies that
science and knowledge of environmental problems are inherently
political and intrinsically linked to economic and social context.
Further, Political Ecology is keenly invested in understanding how
local processes of environmental change are linked to past and
present wider regulatory frameworks and market processes.

Political Ecology draws on various disciplines to frame studies
on resource and management challenges in fields such as environment
and development, climate change, land-use, and conservation. This
course illustrates how Political Ecology is useful to understand
processes of natural resource management, use, and contestations
around these. Participants in this course will be challenged to
re-think and reconsider mainstream understandings of environmental
problems and how they are produced.

The course is primarily (but not exclusively) concerned with and
draws its examples and cases from environmental problems in
developing countries (Global South) including those concerned
with forests, agricultural lands, water, wildlife and range
lands.

The course is structured in four themes each of a
duration of approximately two weeks. The four themes are briefly
described below. During the course you will be
presented with ways of viewing that appear critical towards much of
mainstream practice in development and environmental policy. In the
last week of the course we will discuss the dilemma of
having to navigate as an expert in a professional context of
institutions with aims, logics, and narratives that may be subject
to critique from a political ecology perspective.

Environmental degradation

This theme concerns environmental change (degradation). We
will look into questions such as: By whom and how is environmental
degradation defined? How can we know/ascertain/measure
environmental change? How is environmental knowlegde produced and
used? Who drives degradation? How and why have environmental crisis
narratives emerged and persisted? What functions have they served?
And what are the environmental and socio-economic consequences?

The political economy of natural resource management and
use

Political ecology may be defined as “the concerns of ecology and
a broadly defined political economy” (Blaikie and Brookfield 1987,
p. 17). In this theme we in particular discuss Marxist political
economy which has formed a central element in political
ecology as a critique of capitalism and neo-liberalism. We also
broaden the view to other orientations of political
economy. Focus throughout the theme is on the analysis of
cases and situations in relation to use of natural resources and
conservation, on questions such as “who gains?”, “who
loses?”, “how?” and “why?”

Gender and social difference

Environments are located in socially uneven terrains. Gender,
caste, class, ethnicity, and indigeneity are some of the kinds of
social difference that shape resource access. In this module we
look at perspectives from post-structuralist and feminist political
ecology to understand some of the subtle, everyday dynamics that
create environmental inclusions and exclusions. Feminist political
ecology considers gender a critical variable in shaping resource
access and control, and conceptualizes its intersections with other
forms of social difference. And more than that, it deconstructs the
very idea of gender. Also relying on post-structuralist critiques,
we discuss how subjectivities are shaped through interactions with
the environment and ask how to denaturalize power, categories, and
social hierarchies in our analysis of resource access and
control.

Environmental conflict and resistance

Environmental conflicts have multiple causes and forms.
Conflicts arise when people living in rural areas of the ’Global
South’ experience restrictions on access to land and livelihood as
a consequence of multiple processes of extraction, infrastructure
development, or conservation. These are often both exacerbated by
and contributing to local processes of social stratification and
elite formation. They are often accompanied by competing claims
seeking to legitimate a certain development in the area and about
the histories, identities and capabilities of people living there.
At times, conflicts erupt into open acts of defiance and violence,
whereas at other times it takes shape as hidden forms of
resistance. In ‘Environmental conflict and resistance’ we will seek
to understand the causes and forms of environmental conflicts and
resistance.

The curriculum for the course is indicated in the introductory
and guidance notes for each theme of the course which are
uploaded on Absalon.

The curriculum includes chapters from Paul Robbins: “Political
Ecology”, lecture notes and peer-reviewed journal articles. The
course provides students amble opportunities to enhance their
ability to read and analyze scientific texts, many of which will be
in the social science domain or in the interface between social and
natural science.

The course makes limited use
of traditional lectures. The key teaching and learning activities
are group discussions and exercises, student presentations, student
peer-to-peer feedback, and short written assignments (article
reviews). The learning activities draw on scientific articles and
book chapters, but also on other media, such as podcasts and films.
For each week of the course, there is an introduction and guidance
note presenting the topic of the week, the intended learning
objectives and the learning activities.
The course requires students’ timely preparation and active
participation in order to achieve the intended learning outcomes.
The indicated readings for each week must be read prior to class.
Students who are unable to meet this requirement should not enroll
in the course.

Feedback is provided in multiple ways. There will be individual,
written comments to the written assigments (article reviews). Oral
feedback will be in class to group exercises and group
presentations.